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Just a trip report on my annual visit today to Immigration at Bangkok Chaengwattana for a retirement extension, re-entry permit and related stuff.

Items of Note:

--Was able to use my apparently last and final U.S. Embassy income affidavit today from late Dec. 2018 pretty much on its last valid day before hitting the 6 month expiration point. The affidavit was accepted without any comment, particular scrutiny or even any request for backup financial documents from the U.S. That was a bit of relief, in an otherwise miserable situation with the now permanent loss of future income affidavits for U.S., UK, Aus. and Danish folks.

--Immigration does seem to be getting serious about both TM30 AND 90-Day report documentation when you go to do an extension. In all my past years here, although I've always been current and in compliance, I've never been asked to show any 90-Day report confirmation or TM30 reporting slip as part of an extension process.

But today at BKK CW, when the officer was starting to process my paperwork, she at one point asked if I had my 90-Day report slip and a TM30 slip. And I did, as both were clipped into the pages of my passport along with my departure card. So she unclipped the 90-Day and TM30 slips, went over to her photocopy machine, ran a single page photocopy with the two slips together on the same page, brought it back to the desk, asked me to sign it, and then proceeded to include it along with all my other photocopies.

So henceforth, absent any further notice, I'd plan on bringing a single page photocopy of your latest 90-Day reporting slip and your TM30 compliance just to be on the safe side. In my case, I reported myself back in Feb. for TM30 and got the receipt back in the mail. So, I dunno what would have transpired if someone else like a landlord had reported for me, and I was in their TM30 system, but I didn't have any reporting slip to prove it...

Everything else was pretty much as normal, except I noticed that today (and maybe other days as well) ALL of the Immigration officers there were wearing their casual yellow-colored government style polo shirts -- instead of their typical dark green police uniforms as I've always encountered in the past. I was gonna ask someone what's going on with that, but considering their level of EN and my level of TH, I ended up deciding to let it pass un-remarked upon.... At least it made them SEEM a bit less militaristic....

Recap:

Arrived at CW about 7:40 am and was able to get queue number 265 of the first 300 queue tickets they issue each morning. All those folks line up first in order of queue number. And then, after that group goes in, everyone else after that in the queue files in afterward. I happened to be standing near a farang guy who was the very FIRST person in the line, and asked what time he had arrived to get the No. 1 queue ticket. And his answer was 4:30 am!!!! (No way I'm doing THAT!)

Then the 2nd level queue at the front desk inside Immigration, where they assign you another queue ticket for the particular section handling your business, was relatively short, with 4 officers working there and only 4-5 people in front of me in my particular line. (I have no idea what happened to all the 250+ people who had filed in ahead of me, as either they had gotten their inside queue tickets VERY fast, or somehow otherwise were swallowed up inside Immigration.

Retirement Extension of Stay:

By the time I got to the L section for extensions, it was about 8:35 am, 5 mins. after their official opening time. I was about 10 numbers down in the L section queue, and my ticket was called in about a half hour by 9 am. My business with the officer for my extension, because of a personal thing I had that was a bit of a complication this year, took until 9:45 am. And at that point, once done, I had to wait almost TWO HOURS after completing their process to get my passport back from the L section. Lots and lots of customers were just sitting around waiting for the return of their passports, and the nearly two hours I waited for that was probably the longest I've ever had to wait there to get my passport back. No idea why they were so slow about that.

Re-Entry Permit:

So at that point, it's about 11:45 am, and I had gotten my new retirement extension stamped passport back and another queue number from the front desk for the Re-Entry Permit section. Upon arriving, my queue number was about 40 down from the number showing on their video screens, so I'm figuring it's going to be another long wait extending into well after the lunch hour.

But to my surprise, after sitting there maybe 5 mins., one of the Re-Entry Permit officers walked up to me and asked me what I was waiting for. And when I said to get a re-entry permit, her response was, "OK, we can help you now. Come on in with your paperwork." So I did, they took all my paperwork, I paid my 1000b fee for a single entry stamp, and then was told to wait. I still at that point figured it was going to be long after the approaching lunch break. But instead, within another 5 minutes, they called me back and gave me my newly stamped passport with its new re-entry permit.

I was (pleasantly) shocked. Just like I don't think I'd ever waited so LONG to get my passport back from the L section, I don't think I've ever started and finished a re-entry permit application at BKK CW in the space of 10 minutes. But today I did. It was strange. As best as I could tell, at least when I was there, they didn't seem to be using their queue counters at all. And afterword, I asked one of the staff there who spoke English about coming back next year and whether I'd need to make an online appointment or what. And her answer was no, just walk up to their cubicle, hand in your paperwork and we'll help you. OK... can't argue with that.

So, I ended up being all finished just as the noon break was being called, after having walked in the door about 7:45 am....

--Completed TM8 form printed on a single sheet front and back. Your color photo pasted on the back side, and your phone number hand written at the top of the FRONT side.

Hand signed portrait-orientation photocopies of the following (they want photocopies, they don't seem to like printed scans):

-- Passport face page

-- if you've obtained a new passport anytime, the front pages of that where Immigration has copied over the visa and stamps info from your old passport.

-- most recent visa or extension stamp (including the new one you may have just received earlier in the day during the same visit)

-- most recent arrival/entry stamp

-- airport departure card front and back

(The Re-Entry Permit staff didn't ask or require anything about 90-Day report or TM30 photocopies. I dunno if that's because they knew the L section for extensions would have already nailed me for that earlier in the same visit, or because the Re-Entry Permit staff simply isn't dealing with those issues).

1000b fee for a single entry permit, or 3800b fee for a multiple entry permit.

BTW, other miscellany:

--Today at both the Extension of Stay desk and then again later at the Re-Entry Permit desk, the two officers involved both wanted and did snap a photo of me with their desktop web cameras, which I'm pretty sure has been not uncommon in the past.

--As far as my residence is concerned, I had brought with me various documents confirming where I live -- a copy of my rental agreement, now my landlord's Thai ID and tabien ban that I now need for TM30 purposes, utility bills, etc etc... And I wasn't asked to show or provide copies of any of those... Just the map to home.

Edited June 25 by TallGuyJohninBKK

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BTW, about the early morning queue system at BKK CW, last year at least, my Thai wife was told they start handing out the queue tickets at 7 am.... The outside officers today started forming people into an ordered queue around 8 am... And then the Immigration Office opens its doors for business at 8:30 am.

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Just for comparison purposes, I was looking back at my notes for the same kind of visit to BKK CW Immigration last year:

Last year, once finished in the L section for extensions, it took only about 15 minutes to get my passport back after the final supervisor's review. Today, it took almost 2 hours.

Last year, in the Re-Entry Permit section, it took about 45 minutes from me submitting my paperwork to getting my stamped passport back. Today, that part took barely 10 minutes.

But in both cases, I managed to get finished and out prior to the lunch break by virtue of being in queue when Immigration opened its doors. Last year I was out by 11:15 am. Today, it was just prior to 12 noon.

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But today at BKK CW, when the officer was starting to process my paperwork, she at one point asked if I had my 90-Day report slip

Raises a potentially interesting conundrum, though, if you've undertaken a foreign trip since obtaining your latest 90-day report slip and are within 90 days of your return to LOS when you toddle off to CW for your latest retirement extension. I shall be in precisely that situation when I apply for a new retirement extension at Rayong Maptaput in a few weeks time.

Presumably in that situation you would be strongly advised to arm yourself with further copies of the passport pages containing your latest departure and re-entry stamps (which should be highlighted to boot) as well as your previous 90-day slip?

1. I always do an annual trip report here that tries to recap everything all into one place... because that kind of concise, complete factual info is often hard to find here in the way of guidance and instructions all gathered together in one single post.

2. There's no way I could remember and keep track of all the various details involved if I wasn't keeping some kind of notes as I went along.

3. It's my personal way of contributing to the TVF Community and saying "thanks" to all those who have helped and educated me along the way (and still do) with all the obscure, bizarre, always changing rules of Thai Immigration.

FWIW, while I was there today, I was chatting with a couple of other farangs who I'm pretty sure were not ThaiVisa active participants. They were there for other business, but both got blindsided by the new TM30 requirement and had their own business delayed while they had to go and deal with the TM30 compliance before they could return to their main business.

It helps to follow these things, and go in as best prepared as possible. All my paperwork was in order, exactly as Immigration wanted it. I didn't have to run off and get new copies of anything. I wasn't missing anything that would have required a return visit. In short, it's trying to minimize the time and pain.

Edited June 25 by TallGuyJohninBKK

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Raises a potentially interesting conundrum, though, if you've undertaken a foreign trip since obtaining your latest 90-day report slip and are within 90 days of your return to LOS when you toddle off to CW for your latest retirement extension. I shall be in precisely that situation when I apply for a new retirement extension at Rayong Maptaput in a few weeks time.

Presumably in that situation you would be strongly advised to arm yourself with further copies of the passport pages containing your latest departure and re-entry stamps (which should be highlighted to boot) as well as your previous 90-day slip?

I don't think that's complicated....

You'd bring your most recent 90-day reporting receipt, even if you've had a recent trip out of the country and as a result, aren't yet due for new 90-day report.

You'd include in your photocopies your most recent arrival stamp, which would obviously show them that you're not yet due for a new 90-day reporting cycle, beyond the prior one you've already done.

Presumably, then, you have never had a curved ball lobbed at you by an immigration officer at extension of stay application time? If so, I am sure that the rest of us would be extremely grateful if you could let us know from where we can purchase the halo which, I take it, you place on your head prior to each trip to your local immigration office.

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1. I always do an annual trip report here that tries to recap everything all into one place... because that kind of concise, complete factual info is often hard to find here in the way of guidance and instructions all gathered together in one single post.

2. There's no way I could remember and keep track of all the various details involved if I wasn't keeping some kind of notes as I went along.

3. It's my personal way of contributing to the TVF Community and saying "thanks" to all those who have helped and educated me along the way (and still do) with all the obscure, bizarre, always changing rules of Thai Immigration.

FWIW, while I was there today, I was chatting with a couple of other farangs who I'm pretty sure were not ThaiVisa active participants. They were there for other business, but both got blindsided by the new TM30 requirement and had their own business delayed while they had to go and deal with the TM30 compliance before they could return to their main business.

It helps to follow these things, and go in as best prepared as possible. All my paperwork was in order, exactly as Immigration wanted it. I didn't have to run off and get new copies of anything. I wasn't missing anything that would have required a return visit. In short, it's trying to minimize the time and pain.

You are absolutely correct, and btw, I copied/pasted your entire summary and emailed it to myself for future reference!

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Good report. But aren't you doing your extension of stay much earlier than normal?

I think I remember you talking in another thread about wanting to attempt the extension approx 3 months early versus the normal 30-45 days early due to your almost expired income affidavit which is good for 6 months.

And I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just go do a TM30 (which I never did once arriving over a decade ago) before I do my extension in a few months to avoid the TM30 fine blogging down my extension on the day I go extend.

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Good report. But aren't you doing your extension of stay much earlier than normal?

I think I remember you talking in another thread about wanting to attempt the extension approx 3 months early versus the normal 30-45 days early due to your almost expired income affidavit which is good for 6 months.

Your memory is good as always, Pib. I was indeed applying early, and that was the "personal circumstance" I mentioned in my retirement extension comments above that probably caused my time with the extensions officer to be a bit longer than normal. But because all that was a unique personal thing probably not relevant to most folks here, I didn't get into the details of that in this thread....

I did, however, recap the early application part in a separate thread on that very subject:

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And I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just go do a TM30 (which I never did once arriving over a decade ago) before I do my extension in a few months to avoid the TM30 fine blogging down my extension on the day I go extend.

Depending on what you mean by "go do..."

I wouldn't advise anyone to "go" to CW just for TM30 purposes alone, when it's relatively easy to fill out the paperwork and send it in my mail to BKK CW using the exact same address used for 90-day reports, except changing the first line to something like "TM30 Reports Section."

They don't seem to be particularly fussy about the timing of your TM30 submission, as long as you have a current, up-to-date one by the time you go to file for your next new extension.

And the queue lines at the TM30 section seem to be relatively long, probably in part because it seems a goodly portion of those going to transact business at BKK CW these days are coming in totally unaware of their new obligation to attain TM 30 compliance.